Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash

I am the creative mind of my business, why do I even need to think about the "boring book stuff"?

In this episode of the FastTrack Your Fashion Brand Podcast, Teresa Kwon is here to talk all about leadership! This woman is a powerhouse, I’ve been wanting to have her on the podcast for so long because she works so hard to help leaders become changemakers! Teresa is a seasoned leadership coach and business strategist, devoted to help impact driven entrepreneurs and changemakers amplify their impact! My hope is that you will listen to this episode and hear the key characteristics that make up a great leader and be inspired to implement them as you build your business and your team.

Teresa is the real deal, one of the ways she has chosen to invest in her own leadership is by reading and curating the best books out there for leaders. She has a list of the 30 top books as new as 2019 that she wants to give to you as a FREEBIE! This is just another step for you to get the breakthrough you need to level up as a leader in your business. But don’t forget, leading is a lifelong learning process. You have already become a leader by creating a product, concept, and idea that you know the world needs. So get ready to level up your leadership with this brand new episode packed with insight!

Click the image below to get your FREE download of Teresa's

Top 30 Must-Read Leadership Books for Entrepreneurs!

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL HEAR ABOUT

• Creating a leader
• Defining true leadership
• The 5 characteristics of a leader
• Why is leadership important for business

Does Having a Business Make You A Leader?

The short answer is yes!

Teresa pointed out an incredible truth. If you are a creator, you are a leader! You saw a need for change and created that change by building your product, launching your concept, or igniting a new idea! Teresa shared that “Leaders aren’t born, they’re made.” Which means that by standing out in the forefront of your business you are already leading and changing the world around you through your leadership!

Teresa helped me recognize that there are so many leadership qualities that being a creator requires. Networking, testing, sharing, speaking, and coordinating are all a part of the creative process and all are leadership qualities! So leave your fears about leadership at the door, because guess what... You’re already doing it! And all you can do is keep developing, growing, and learning what kind of leader you want to be in your business.  Or as Teresa says, your own flavor of leadership that helps you become a better leader!

How to Build a Team as a Leader...

Who you hire and how you hire makes a huge difference in how well you lead a team.

Instagram famously had 12 people working for them when they sold their business for 8 billion dollars! That means that every person on that team was hustling, and not because they loved to hustle, but because they believed in the product and the leadership! Teresa reminded me that anyone can hire someone from craigslist. But what sets a leader a part is having the courage and clarity to build a team that gives them skills and vision to go above and beyond in their job.

I had to remind myself of this when I was first hiring my team for Nicolita. I wanted my team to trust me and know that I wasn’t afraid or unwilling to get into the nitty-gritty of the business. But what I didn’t realize was that by constantly getting on their level, I was confusing my role and my employees' roles in my business. I wasn’t leading them, I wasn’t utilizing my time to learn how to lead better, I was micro-managing their work flow. As Teresa reminded me later on in the episode, micromanaging is actually more confusing and stressful for your employees.

What Does it Take to Own Your Leadership and Continue to Level Up as a Leader?

Teresa has the 5 characteristics of a leader that she wants to share with you! And let me tell you guys... These are just gold! 

The first one is Character. This one is big because when we think about leaders in our country and world, the first thing that we read about when they fall out of grace is the defamation of their character. So Teresa talks about how we can all learn to lead with our humanity first and recognize our own blind spots sooner rather than later. Competence is the next big one. Competence comes from knowing that we don’t know everything, but we can take actionable steps to learn and gain more knowledge every day! The third is Communication. We all have that one boss that we got frustrated with and couldn’t figure out what they wanted from us. Being a good communicator is paramount to great leadership! It's crucial to recognize that learning styles are different and communicating with your employees what you want and helping them get there is on you! 

The last two are Clarity and Confidence. Clarity comes back to the idea of micromanaging, if we find ourselves micromanaging it probably means that we aren’t clear on what we want and we end up wasting a ton of time figuring it out and confusing our team in the process. Confidence is just as important for a leader to possess and grow in. We all have imposter syndrome, I know I did when I was grappling with what it meant to be a CEO of my own business... But that doesn’t mean that we can’t grow and exude confidence as we recognize how far we’ve come in our business.

Teresa Kwon’s attributes are something that I continue to come back to in my own leadership journey and I’m so thankful for this refresher episode on how I can continue to be a great leader for my team.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN

08:58-13:55 - Teresa Kwon + Freebie Book List

13:58-18:15 - What Makes You A Leader Already

18:20-22:00 - Leading a team

22:05-41:45 - The 5 Attributes of a Leader

41:50-50:15 - Being Courageous in Your Business Strategy

50:20-56:44 - Recap!

CONNECT WITH ME

INSTAGRAM: @nicole_di_rocco

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/nicoledirocco

PODCAST FB GROUP: www.facebook.com/groups/fasttrackyourfashionbrandpodcast

WEBSITE: www.fashionbizmentor.com

SUBMIT YOUR FASHION BIZ QUESTIONS: www.fashionbizmentor.com/breakthrough-coaching

SEE MY DESIGNS: www.mynicolita.com

THE SOLD OUT CHECKLIST FREE DOWNLOAD: https://bit.ly/FASHIONCHECKLIST

CONNECT WITH GUEST

INSTAGRAM: @daringlygreatleadership

FACEBOOK: https://web.facebook.com/daringlygreat

WEBSITE: https://www.daringlygreat.com/

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